While most of America is suffering through one the worst economic downturns in U.S. history, the Obamas are living the high life at your expense. During 2011, U.S. taxpayers spent an astounding 1.4 billion dollars on the Obamas. Meanwhile, British taxpayers only spent 57.8 million dollars on the entire royal family. Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture? So where did the 1.4 billion dollars go? That money paid the salaries of their staff members, it paid for their transportation and housing costs, it paid for entertainment and vacations for the Obamas, and $102,000 was even spent on a “dog handler” for the family dog Bo. In his new book entitled “Presidential Perks Gone Royal: Your Taxes Are Being Used For Obama’s Re-election“, author Robert Keith Gray reveals some absolutely shocking details about the enormous amounts of U.S. taxpayer money that are being spent on the personal needs of the Obamas. At a time when the U.S. national debt is absolutely exploding this kind of outrageous spending is completely and totally inappropriate, but of course the mainstream media is not going to report on this because they don’t want to do anything to put the Obamas in a bad light this close to the election.

Some of the things that Robert Keith Gray has uncovered are absolutely mind blowing. The following are a few facts from his new book….

-Never before has so much money been spent on a president and his family during a single year

-Obama has 469 senior staff working under him, and 226 of them make more than $100,000 a year

-There is always at least one projectionist at the White House 24 hours a day just in case there is someone that wants to watch a movie.

-The “dog handler” for the family dog Bo reportedly makes $102,000 per year and sometimes he is even flown to where the family is vacationing so that he can care for the dog

Are you outraged yet?

When the Obamas are at the White House the expenses are outrageous, but the expenses really kick in to a whole new level when the Obamas go on vacation.

And the Obamas sure do love to go on vacation.

Over one recent 12 month period, Michelle Obama spent 42 days on vacation (and that does not even count Saturdays and Sundays). The following is an excerpt from a Daily Mail article about the legendary Obama vacations….

The First Lady is believed to have taken 42 days of holiday in the past year, including a $375,000 break in Spain and a four-day ski trip to Vail, Colorado, where she spent $2,000 a night on a suite at the Sebastian hotel.

And the first family’s nine-day stay in Martha’s Vineyard is also proving costly, with rental of the Blue Heron Farm property alone costing an estimated $50,000 a week.

The source continued: ‘Michelle also enjoys drinking expensive booze during her trips. She favours martinis with top-shelf vodka and has a taste for rich sparking wines.

‘The vacations are totally Michelle’s idea. She’s like a junkie. She can’t schedule enough getaways, and she lives from one to the next – all the while sticking it to hardworking Americans.’

As I wrote about the other day, many Americans are working so hard just to survive in this economy that they don’t ever get to take any vacations at all.

But it doesn’t seem to trouble the Obamas that many of their vacation trips cost more than many American workers will make in an entire decade….

A trip to Spain in 2010 by Michelle Obama, family, and staff cost taxpayers $467,585 and a trip by the First Lady and family to South Africa and Botswana last year cost $424,142 for the flight and crew alone, according to Judicial Watch.

Yes, when the family of the president travels it is going to be expensive, but this is ridiculous.

It can even be insanely expensive for the Obamas to take a vacation even if they don’t leave the country.